Category: ENG1101 Project #2

Faariah Hiyaat

    Faariah Hiyaat, or Fari as she is known by many, is a Guyanese-born, American-raised 17-year-old, whom is exploring the innovative world of design with the help of her enrollment at the New York City College of Technology as a COMD major. Having been private school bound for predominantly her entire childhood and teenage years, her experience in the design field is rather scarce, however, her drive to create has been there ever since her early childhood years. From being a young fashionista, to drawing an exact replica of Spongebob at just 7-years old, Ms. Hiyaat is striving to expand her skill set in the design field in hopes of a more productive and flourishing future.

Question #1

What exactly is your avatar and how does it represent you?

       Personally, whenever I’m viewing someone’s profile, on any platform, I’m almost always interested in finding out who the person is or what he/she looks like. I believe that your profile photo is the best place to advertise that, of course; it’s the first area that people’s eyes are drawn to in most cases. It also helps others get to briefly know you or infer things about you. Having said that, my avatar is a photo of me, taken on July 4th by my mother, at Orient Point, NY. Although it may not seem like it, this picture is actually an off guard. I chose this as my avatar because I love the vibe it gives off. It’s a picture that’s full of life and catches the eye without doing too much; which basically sums up me as a person. The way the rays of the golden hour bounce off of my melanin rich skin is quite impeccable, in my opinion; it creates a sense of unity, and, tied in with the background, an aura of serenity. I love exploring and standing out in my own ways; I feel as if this photo really captures an adequate representation of me and what I love. Also, the fact that my mom took it out makes it a billion times more special.

Question #2

What are you passionate about?

        Well, I LOVE fashion. I love putting outfits together and coordinating colors. It puts my mind at ease and gives me a sense of satisfaction whenever I put together an outfit that really strikes. Additionally, I believe that with every outfit, jewelry is a must-have. I never leave the house without being all blinged-out, and if I do, I usually walk with my jewelry in a box, ready to be put on whenever I’m in a rush, which is almost every morning. Many times, my family members and relatives depend on my opinion when it comes to an article of clothing, or anything in general now that I think about it, and whether or not it works for them, or whatever the case may be. Aside from that, I enjoy pretty much any type of designing to be honest. I simply just love to create, draw, doodle, innovate, silently express myself, etc.

Question #3

How do you intend to grow as a designer with this program?

    I’m hoping that with this program I’ll be able to further expand my knowledge in the world of design. I intend on learning new techniques and adapting new skills that will benefit me in the future, concerning my field of study and any jobs I may come across. Sometimes I’m not as creative as I think I should be or as I’d like to be, new ideas don’t really pop into my head on the spot or as readily as I’d like. So, hopefully this program will help get my creative juices flowing a bit smoother and open up my eyes to new perspectives. At the moment, my mind isn’t really set on any particular field within this major that I’d like to pursue, so hopefully as I learn and grow, my mind will steer into the direction that’s best suited for me.

Question #4

What catches your eye when looking at other people’s work?

  When viewing other people’s work, quite a few things run through my mind. Firstly, I almost always analyze how precise and crisp an article of work is. That’s a major area for me because at times, I struggle with being a perfectionist. I also focus on how different and unique a piece is in comparison to what I’ve been exposed to thus far, or what reality is accustomed to seeing. I don’t really judge too hard in that area because we’ve already been exposed to so much in our generation. Our world is full of invention and creativity, so it’s hard to put out something that’s never been seen or created before. Color is also big factor for me. I love vibrancy and colors in general. Don’t get me wrong, monochrome pieces are still beautiful and interesting, and often times pieces look best as is, however, there are occurrences where color adds that sparkle that really brings an article to life.

Alice Garcia

Alice Garcia is a Mexican-American college student that is currently studying in New York City College Of Technology. She is the oldest of one sister and younger of 4 older brothers. No one expected Alice to follow into the art of drawing since her parents expected to be a doctor, lawyer, or a teacher. Even so she likes to take pictures of views and gather ideas by what’s in her surrounding to create a new way of seeing things and see the bigger meaning or even to see the smallest details. Alice is current studying in the major of communication design (COMMD) and is wanting to see the hidden talents that she is expanding on.

Avatar

The avatar that I chose is an actual picture of me that I took on snapchat which is not from too long ago probably like 3 weeks. The reason I picked this picture as my avatar is because I want to show others my real appearance as an actual person and also what there is for others to describe of me. I wear glasses since probably middle school and even then you would probably believe that I’m smart too. In the avatar, I don’t smile like that either in pictures but I can be sometimes. I also always carry a necklace with my first name initial. I don’t like having my hair long so I keep it short around shoulder length. The one thing I like to do is play around with adding filters to my pictures like the one on my avatar to look more creative and look nice when I  edit it.Question #1- what catches your eye when looking at other people’s work?

When I look at someone’s work I look at the creativity that was created or search for the differences between everyone else’s work and also mine. If it looks really cool or very detailed I’ll like to say “Hey, that’s very good work you did there.” Or “I like what you did to make it look very good.” or “It’s very presentable without making it seem like you ever did so many drafts to get this as a final result.” The final results are the overall of the hard work,developing and planning what to do by start to finish for that specific assignment or homework. But mainly I look to see if there was really effort being given especially if you see like prints on the work because that says a lot like they was poorly done or if it wasn’t put away somewhere save to protect the work without it ending up being all wrinkled up.

Question #2- What is the schoolwork like in your coursework?

There is a lot to keep checking in case of there being a homework, a project being due at a certain day or of a week. Sometimes, it maybe a lot or not bu,it is college it’s no longer like high school where you will be told things to do. The class work can be easy yet, a bit troubling especially with a drawing… even if someone is just learning the art of drawing no professor expects a alumni to draw at high standard but it just means that not everything is easy at first. It takes time to be able to do this and that without struggling on measuring certain spaces on the paper of the work piece. There are a lot of standards that professors have on us to be able to do and be responsible for our own things and be well prepare with certain necessary items for the next class.

Question #3- What is your motivation (eg creative expression) in graphic design?

My motivation in graphic design is to learn more of what’s there to get out  and develop from it. I have created certain things like creating logos or learned the ways with photography or how to use the photoshop programs to develop new creations. I believe that what I’m learning right now is helping me improve with new experience on how there is many ways to present or demonstrate within my projects or homeworks, by following the guidelines, suggestions, and other opinions of other classmates. I use everything I have learned so far from the beginning of this semester and from high school. I want to improve with gaining so much skills that are or will be beyond what I had started with. I see other classmates determined to reach their own goals and I want to follow that path and believe truly that I can successfully make it happen if I work very hard to really be someone in the future.

Question #4- What job do you desire after this?

I want to be a graphic designer, although at first I thought about following into the advertisement path but then I thought I have done more of the graphic design things like logos and usage of other programs. But there is a part of me that maybe thinks that I really want to keep persuading this area of work, and also I’m trying to expand my knowledge on the course. So I can be utile on other fragments of work. If my knowledge can be use for the greater good I am pleased. So I am looking forward to being a graphics designer, to better help the media understand what the purpose I am trying to imply of the product or slowly unveil the meanings. mostly a job in business corporations.

Nathaniel Thomas is an African American student who is studying communication design at NY City tech. He grew up in Brooklyn with his parents and younger siblings. In his free time, Nathaniel likes to play video games and draw. He mainly draws regular 2D figures or whatver he’s in the mood to draw. Looking to learn something new and improve his skills, he enrolled at NY City Tech and is studying communication design. He’s currently learning how to do one/two point perspective, doing inked drawings and different types of patterns. He will learn more along the way

My Avatar

My avatar is the letter N with a different font and a colorful design. I chose this because it represents me and the type of art I like looking at, nice and colorful art. The way this is designed makes the colors pop out. The avatar has all types of different colors such as purple, pink, green red, blue and more

Question #1-Do you prefer working by yourself or in a group environment?

I prefer working by myself but if I have to do a group a project, I don’t mind. Working by myself is better because I get to see what I have to do and I can concentrate on doing the whole thing rather than just one part. For a group project, sometimes it might be hard seeing what everyone else is working on. Also, I think if the whole group keeps in check, we might be able to do the whole project and get a good grade on it.

Question #2- Where do you think the future of design will take you?

I’m actually not sure where the future of design will take me. It depends on what my strengths and weaknesses are and what I like to do the most. So far, my strengths are just being a decent drawer. There’s still so much for me to learn in the world of art. I could become a painter even though I never really painted before, or someone who likes to make sculptures. In the end, it all depends on my strengths and weaknesses and what I like to do the most. Right now, I just prefer doing normal drawings so maybe I might be someone who just likes to draw, who knows.

Question#3- What is your motivation in design/to be a design student?

My motivation in design and being a design student is searching up or scrolling through social media and seeing a great looking drawing. All these drawings that we see online is because someone made them. I want to be able to say I made some of these drawings. Another thing that motivates me is watching cartoons. Cartoons like spongebob, rick and morty, family guy and more all exist because someone or a group of people worked together to make it. I want to be able to do something like that too

Question#4- How do you intend to grow as a designer with this program?

I intend to grow by improving my drawing skills and learning to do different styles such as 3D drawings one and two point perspective, inked drawings, sculptures or anything else. Also, I want to learn what I like the most and what I’m really good at. As long as I’m improving, then that’s good.

Lenny Cruz is is a design student at New York College of Technology. Lenny has always had a passion for art. He was first introduced to art in High School when he took a graphic design and video production class as a Sophmore. Two years later, Lenny chose to major in COMD at City Tech where he saw this as an opportunity to follow his passion for art. Lenny has always idolized designers like Virgil Abloh, an artist, architect, engineer, creative director, and designer who is currently the Founder and CEO of Off-White and the Artistic Director of men’s wear at Louis Vuitton. Virgil is the world’s most influential designer and has had a lot of impact on the way people dress today. Like Virgil Abloh, Lenny has always wanted to have an impact in his community and in the world. He plans to use his graphic design skills to influence people around the world.

Avatar

My Avatar is an abstract picture of a tree. I chose a tree as my avatar because trees symbolize growth and transformation. I chose this picture because I like how the leaves have a higher contrast than the rest of the picture and create an illumination that makes it look like the tree is on. When I think of trees, I think of regrowth. If you cut a tree in half it will regrow back to how it was before. I want my avatar to remind me every time that I look at it that it does not matter if I have to start again, I can always get back to how I was or even better. If I were to use this as my logo I would because this avatar represents me as a graphic designer. I would love to edit this picture and maybe use it as a background with a headshot picture of me.

What are your expectations of being a COMD major in your first year?

In my first year of college being part of a COMD major, I expect to meet as many people as I can that share the same interests as me. I want to have connections and I want to build friendships that will last for longer than college personal connections are always important. As a college freshman being part of a COMD major I also expect to find a class that will help me choose a career in Communication Design such as Graphic Design, Illustrator, advertising design, photography, etc… I also want to learn how to manage my time. I want to be able to study, do homework and spend time with family and friends which is something I have always had a problem with when it comes to school. 

Can you see yourself doing anything else?

To be honest, I don’t think I see myself doing anything else other than design. As much as I love playing basketball I am not tall enough to play as a professional. I see myself as a graphic designer in the future but what I do as a designer might change. Right now my plan is to learn as much as I can about principles of designing so that I choose the right career as I designer. I never had any plans on becoming anything else than a graphic designer but after being part of the COMD program I have learned that there are many good careers in the design field. As of now, I am interested in graphic design and advertising and I want to continue developing my design skills.

       What is your dream job in the field of design?

Because of my passion for designing, my dream job in the design field would be graphic designing. I love working with programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. To me, a dream job is a job that lets me use my creativity to do something that I love, which is designing. I want to collaborate with other people that have the same passion for design as me. I started working with photoshop in high school when I was a sophomore. I took 2 years of graphic designing and video production class which made me realize how powerful art is. In those 2 years, I learned that art is one of the best ways to express ourselves and to help others. That is why my dream job is to become a graphic designer; I want to have the power to heal, influence, bring awareness to my community and to the world.

Where do you see yourself in 5? 10? 15? years

In 5 years, I see myself graduated from college starting to work at a company as a graphic designer. My goal is to start working for a big company, I prefer to work for a gaming company like Rockstar Games, Activision, Epic Games, EA or Ubisoft. Those are companies that I admire because they have made games that I have played throughout my childhood and teenage years. In 10 years I see myself stable, with a good job that pays me well enough for me to save money and start my own design company. In 15 years, I see myself as the owner of a marketing company or design company. I want to own a company one that will provide a future for my family. I want to inspire other young designers to chase their dream and contribute to their communities as I hope to do.

Kyle Djemani

Kyle Djemani is a Surinamese-Indonesian American, who currently studies Communication Design at the New York City College of Technology. He grew up with both his parents and older brother working most of the day, which gave him ample time by himself. During this time, Kyle started to think about what direction he wanted to take in life. He knew that even though his family wasn’t there at times, they would support him no matter what he decided to do. Kyle decided that where he truly belonged was being able to create and design. Currently, he is pursuing a way to become an animator, but also wants to try his hand in the variety of fields of Design while at City Tech.

Avatar

The Avatar I chose was Patrick Star, however, this Patrick is different from the usual character that many people recognize. This Patrick appears to be much more simplified from his overall design to his simple smiley face. This image gives this soft and caring vibe with its design and message on the trophy. I felt that this should be my Avatar because I want to spread good vibes to people by just being friendly and offering a compliment. I chose this image mainly to try and make someone’s day whenever they come across my avatar. Being able to brighten just one person’s day with this Avatar would be enough for me.

[Questions]

“What is your dream job in the field of design?”
My dream job would have to be, being an animator either for a big animation studio or an animation studio of my very own. From an early age, I’ve been interested in becoming an animator and how animators could make their ideas come to life. I grew up watching all kinds of animations and was always invested in how the characters were able to come to life. The type of animations that I really enjoy would have to be from the movies Moana and Lilo & Stitch. I enjoyed these films because of the way the animation flowed and how both of them told their respective stories really well. Even though Moana was 3D animation and Lilo & Stitch was 2D animation, I would like to be able to use both types of animation since they allow for a variety of ways to tell a story. I strive to make my own characters and worlds with their own unique story, so that I may share it with others. I also hope to inspire people who were like me growing up so that they can follow their creative path.

Posters of my two favorite movies and animation styles.

“Can you see yourself doing anything else?”
To be honest, I can’t see myself doing anything else besides creating and designing. I can imagine myself trying different ways of creating, such as painting or sculpting. I do however see myself also working with kids, either teaching them or looking after them. Other than that, creating is what I can picture myself doing for most of my life. Being able to create just feels right for me, like I’m supposed to use my creativity any way I can.

“What are your favorite COMD classes?”
One of my favorite COMD classes as of right now would have to be my Raster & Vector class. The Professor is really kind and encouraging to students on any skill level. It was my first time using programs like Illustrator and Photoshop, but she made it easier to understand how to use the tools that came with the programs. After the first couple weeks of the class, when she taught us the basics of navigating the program she let us go on our own a bit to make something from what we learned. The way she taught makes me feel like going on Illustrator whenever I get that wave of inspiration that comes from time to time. Anytime I feel inspired, I can see the steps I need to take while in the program to create that thought in my mind.

“What are you passionate about?” 
I’ve asked myself this question a lot, while I was still deciding on my major for college. Although I got As in all my subjects in high school, what interested me most were my art classes. When I was given an art class for my sophomore year, I was amazed that it introduced me to a whole new way of expressing myself. I believed that being given the chance to create was when I really found my passion. After taking that one art class, the following years I spent trying to figure out how I could continue down this creative path. I had a lot of support from both my family and my high school Art Teacher. He was a very laid back guy that enjoyed what he did, which translated into how he taught the class. He saw that I had a talent for drawing and encouraged me to continue growing upon that talent as well as learn other ways to create. That’s when I came across City Tech’s COMD major and decided this is where I’ll spend the next four years following my passion.

Kenluis Estrada, aka KEN, aka Ken Valor, is a communication design student, thriving to expand his skillsets on all things art and creativity in all forms. He is a hip-hop / RnB artist who is breaking boundaries turning his craft and passion into his career. He is the meaning of turning dreams into reality and is ready to change the world and impact the lives of many through his craft and work through many art forms including his music. Here we will discuss his dreams, mentality, his drive, what his goals are and what is next for him throughout his college and future career.

Q: So Ken, what is your online avatar and what does it mean to you?

A: My avatar showcases myself as an ARTIST. An artist in all forms and shapes. I am a musician, some may say I can/ should be a model, but I am an illustrator and a creator. I showcase myself as a uniquely creative artist of many talents and my avatar shows that in a simple effective way. Me. KEN. Or Ken Valor as I like to go by as my persona/ stage name. This is a simple clear photoshoot close up showing nothing else but me. As soon as you look at it, it gives off a fierce statement just telling the world, “I am Ken.” Nothing less, nothing more.

Q: What is your dream job in the field of design?

A: My Dream Job in this field of design would probably be in the world of Marketing and Advertising. Also designing everything we might see in our future and working with top name brands. I also want to be a designer in terms of music/music creation and composition. I am a huge music guy and I see my future being heavily involved in the industry. I see myself on the billboard charts, on stage winning awards someday with a great label behind me or even my own label, with a BFA in hand to tackle all types of other careers if that’s what I need to do.

Q: How is the community in your major?

A: The community in my major, Communication Design, is fairly quiet, well at least for now as freshmen. However, everyone is pretty nice so far and friendly, mostly supportive. In my opinion, I feel like people in my major should speak way more and socialize with others to a greater extent, I mean, we are COMMUNICATION Design after all and a major part of our careers or having a successful career in anything is communication with people and your social skills. Personality really changes your outcome in your life in so many ways. People are really shy in this major and don’t really know how to speak up, or even talk to people which I feel should change. We are the future of this world, the future designers, entertainers, and the people who will shape the world and everything that’s around us through our creativity. I urge people to massively break out their shells and be the best people person you can be. Communication, social skills, and spectacular personality are highly important especially as an “artist” of any kind.

Q: What are you passionate about?

A: I’m highly passionate about music. I’m a music artist, Hip-Hop/RnB. I have been doing music for more than 5 years now, and aspire to be a great artist in the music industry. I love creating music, and I record songs at home almost every single day. I actually just dropped a new single today on all platforms, a song called “Eastside” available now. (9/13/19) I love creating all types of songs and being there for the people and the fans. I feel like I can be a great leader and role model and create an impact on this world. I will make a statement everywhere I go. And inspire millions.

Q: Why did you choose this major (COMD)?

A: I chose this major because I wanted to expand my creativity in every way possible and become an artist in many forms. I want to grow my skill set and use it to change the world and also use the skills I learn and implement it within my music. I want to show the world what I got and create spectacular things. I want to create. I am a creator, an artist, an innovator of all sorts. I grew up around art and music all my life and I want to create massive success out of it. I know with my vision, ideas and imagination, I can impact this world in so many ways. Use my skills and combine everything I have ever learned and all art forms into one to make something incredible. We are all incredible in one way or another.

Joshi Hiralall

Joshi Hiralall is a design student, currently studying in New York College of Technology. Joshi always had to keen eye for art but he most often, drifted towards Photography. He grew up in a household with no siblings, no pets, no neighbors his own age, so Joshi had to keep his mind occupied with something. Now his parents were not the most art forward type of people but that never stopped Joshi to find his passion of drawing and photography. Now in current time Joshi is a CommD major, trying to gain the knowledge his needs to reach his career that he so wants. A career being a Professional Photographer and traveling the world to learn different art styles and sharing the knowledge.

Avatar

My avatar is abstract drawing,  drawn by GuangYuan YU a Chinese artist. Now I chose this drawing to be my avatar because it has two meaning that I want people to get. One is the art style, abstract art is hands down my favorite art style. The uses of color and shape to create this ambiguous sense in this piece. Also the sense of thought to bring animals into the world, or city in this drawing in a fictional way. I really look up to people that drawing in this fantasy, fictional, abstract way. Second meaning is how this art, abstract art perfectly describes how I think and my thinking process, its all my ideas coming at the same time and gets mashed up together to create a abstract mind.

What is my dream job in the field of design?

My dream job in the field of design is photography because I love pictures and the art of taking the perfect picture. As well as filmography, which I would like to think of the next step of photography. Also the advertisement, marketing aspect of design so I can learn to entices people with my pictures and learn to sell my prints to the people that love and respect my craft. I would want to become a landscape and an portrait photography because I want to travel and meet new interesting people along the way. As for the filmography part I was thinking about starting with commercials for companies and then advance into visual effects for movies. Here’s where the marketing, advertisement side comes into play as I’m working with companies with larger projects. I have been thinking about sound design too but Im going to take it one step at a time.

What are some things you wish to accomplish as a designer?

As a designer I wish to accomplish a bunch of things, things as of right now and things as of in the future. Accomplishments I wish to make right now is to gain knowledge from different sources. Gaining knowledge from professors, classes, friends, people that have been working in the field for a while now. Also self knowledgement, going online and taking notes off the resources of the web. Going up to people that are doing what I want to in the future and asking for advice, that is probably my favorite way of getting information on my career and the field work involving that career. Then the other way which is just going to my classes that help me develop my skills in my design career.

How do you intend to use your skillset you learn, to influence your community?

My skillset that I will learn as a design major will help me to influence my community in a variety of ways. I can share my ideas to the community and help people expand their creativity. My skills will help by creating new pathways for people new into design and need a push for idea making processes. Also taking pictures and sharing my idea process can help people understand the thoughts that go through my mind when completing or starting a new project at work.

What is your motivation as a design student?

My motivation as a design student is everything and anything that makes me feel free and happy. Could be out with friends in the city, just relaxing and talking about life or I could just be out on a walk in the park by myself. Anything that puts me in my happy place or a sense of peace. This place is where my creativity comes in fruition and my idea are taken place.